Automation systems for controlling a technical process or a technical installation can include a central control unit. The central control unit uses a communication interface module, also referred to as a gateway device or bus coupler, to communicate with the input/output units and/or field devices of the automation system. In this case, the gateway device provides the communication capability between field buses from different protocols, for example, between the FOUNDATION field bus and PROFIBUS.
The connection between the field devices and the central control unit is realized via the input/output devices.
The gateway devices used in automation or control systems can be connected to the superordinate controller via a first bus and communicate with the field devices or input/output devices via a second bus.
Before the control system is capable of being used, the hardware provided therefor is mapped in a programming tool, also referred to as an engineering tool, as part of a programmable logic controller (PLC) or control project. The control project is used to store information about input/output addresses for this hardware and to make the information accessible to the user program.
So that the inputs and outputs of the hardware of the system can be addressed, it is first of all necessary to configure the control device, the gateway devices and the input/output devices connected thereto in accordance with the respective customer-specific requirements. This may be supported by the programming tool. The created configuration, subsequently also referred to as a control configuration, is used to map the linking of the hardware (e.g., input/output devices, communication couplers) of the automation system. The method described above for configuring the control device is described in IEC 61131-3, for example.
The mapping, provided by means of the created configuration, of the hardware of the automation system includes the following information, inter alia:                (i) general parameters of the CPU of the control device of the system,        (ii) number of input/output devices that need to be connected to the control device via a field bus,        (iii) inputs and outputs of all devices connected to the bus,        (iv) parameterization of the input/output devices,        (v) configuration of the inputs and outputs of the devices,        (vi) parameterization of the input/output channels of the input/output devices,        (vii) setting of the mode of operation and the parameters of the serial interfaces of the system, and/or        (viii) type, general parameters and protocols of the communication couplers used or of the communication network used.        
For the communication of field bus systems processing different protocols, the gateway device uses an Ethernet-based or PROFINET protocol, for example, to communicate with the central control unit and uses a field bus protocol, such as CAN or CANopen, to communicate with input/output devices, and/or field devices, connected thereto.
The gateway device connected to the PROFINET bus, the input and output devices and the connections or links thereof to one another are each configured separately by an operator unit. There is, however, no provision for complete configuration of the PROFINET gateway devices using the previously described configuration of the control or automation system. For instance, the relevant gateway device is first of all configured as a separate device and then incorporated into the previously created configuration by additional links, which influences the complexity for implementing and configuring the provided hardware in the control or automation system. Since the configuration of the hardware map is split or divided into different portions or branches, the map of the hardware is arranged in different portions in the configuration tree, and additional connections between the devices of the control or automation system need to be created. A confusing configuration structure is thereby obtained, particularly when configuring relatively large control or automation systems. It is also often necessary to use a plurality of configuration tools, since, as described above, the gateway device connected to the PROFINET bus is configured separately by an operator unit, for example.
To this end, the gateway device contains serial interfaces, for example, in the form of RS232, RS422 and/or RS485 interfaces, that can be used to implement programming of the module and/or communication with devices connected to the gateway device.